Quick opening aerial delivery container



Feb. 25, 1947. H. WILSON ETAM 2,415,603

QUICK OPENING AERIAL DELIVERY CONTAINER Filed Nov. 27, 1942 ggf Patented Feb. 25,1947

lQinci?.iorENING eintrat. DELIVERY CONTAINER l' v Harry Wilson, vloayton, onlie, ana William P.

p Yarborough, Stauntomla. v y Application November 1 942, Serial No; 467,161

01. 15o-52) (Granted-under the act of March 3, 1.883` as amended Aprii- 30,1\ 928; 370 O. G. '757) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used byor for the Government for governmental purposes, without payment to us of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a quick-opening conf tainer and is particularly applicable for aerial delivery by parachute of the weapons and personal equipment of paratroops.

Most of the weapons and other items of equipment usedv by paratroops are landed by separate parachute along with and among the landing troops, since they may require them upon landing for immediate use, and it is therefore an object of this invention to providea container y.

ofthis kind which is held closed by a single quickopening fastener to the end that a minimum of time is consumed in removing the contents.

Another object is to construct the container of flexible fabric and reinforce it with a harness which is of a novel diamond shape so arranged that the tendency of the harness when the container is suspended is to grip the contents rather than depend upon the tensile strength of the Awebbingl alone to support the load.

the invention is further described and reference is made to the drawing, wherein:v

Fig. 1 shows the Vcontainer when`packed 'and closed Fig. 2 showslthe container with the single fastener undoneand the iiaps laid back exposing the contents to View.

Fig. 3 shows the construction of the shock absorber, the view being an laxial section therethrough.

Fig. 4 is, atransverse section taken at 4--4 of Fig. l, showing a number of rifles in their padded forms Fig. 5 is a fragmentary View showing a means for holding the riiies in place'in the forms.,

Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the drawing. y

The container I0, as packed and closed for aerial delivery, is shown in Fig.v 1, the body portion consisting of a rectangular piece of exible fabric, preferably a heavy cotton duck, brought around to a morev or less cylindrical form as at I2,. with the edges overlapping considerablyat IA,j the upper end of the cylinder being closed by an end member I6 yand the lower end by a cup shaped cap I8.

'Il'he cylinder` I2 is stitched, both to the upper member IS and the lower cap I3, but the stitch- .ing does not extend all the way around the cylinder, the stitching being omitted for about ninety degrees, circumferentially, in both directions from the overlapping edges I4, whereby a front flap 20 and a. rear flap 22 are provided, which may be laid back as shown in Fig.` 2 for removing the contents. .The rear flap 2'2 isl provided with a stiffening rody 24 which is sewn into' its edge. Both 'aps are extended as at 26 so that they may be tucked into the upper edge of the cap i8 when the container is being closed'. A lacing 28 is provided, whereby the cap may be snugged up to the cylinder when the contents do not quite round out the cylinder. The top edge of the cap I3 is reinforced by a band 3l) of webbing which carries the eyelets for the lacing. The end of the rod Ellis tucked into the cap I8 at thelacing. It may however be pulled out without untying the lacing when the container is being opened. Carried on the inner wall of the cylinder I2 is a layer of felt l2J which is stitched to the cylinder in a manner to form pockets 34, for riiies 35 or similar equipment, Thepockets extend all the wayy around the inside ofthe cylinder where the cylinder is closed, thereby forming a protected chamber when the container is closed, within which the more fragile pieces of 'equipment as 33, may be packed. Priorto closing the cylinder I2, the rifles are held in place in the pockets by anl elastic strap 3'I-which carries spaced-apart members 39' of a series of glove fasteners', the mating members 4I being secured to the felt s2 intermediatethe gun pockets 34. I

'A part lof the space in the bottom of the cap I8 is taken by a shock absorber 36 which comprises a pneumatic tirecasing 38 and inflated tube dell held between twodiscs of plywood 42a'll enclosed in a canvas cover' 44 (see Fig. 3). The cover 64 may preferably be secured in any convenient manner to the inside bottom of ther cap,

The harness comprises two main strips 4'5 and 4,8 ofheavy cotton webbing both of which pass around the bottom asat 50,then upwardly, converging to lthe point 52 where they cross and are preferably stitched together. Only one crossing point 52 isv visiblein the drawing, but it will be understood that lthe same strips cross at a diametri'cally opposite point on the cylinder.v Cross webbing 54 is stitched to, the main strips and to the outside bottom of the cap t8. A' y After the main strips 46 and 4,8 cross at 52 they diverge until the two ends of 46 reach the parts 56 and 51 of the quick-action snap'fastener 58,. A band 6U' encircles the container ID at this point, extending around the pack. from the DartV 56 to the part 51. The band lillmay be formed by prolonging the ends ofthe strips 46 after they pass through the parts 56 and 5l, or it may be made from a separate piece of webbing, In either event the ends ofthe'strips 48,v when they reach the band 60 are 'stitched thereto at points spaced the form of a drum with the upper end open,

'a top closing member, aside member comprising a rectangular piece of flexible fabric brought around in the form of a cylinder with the edges overlapping, the top end of the piece joining the top closing member and the bottom end extend- A parachute pack 64, having the usual stiiening board 66, is attached to the top member I6 by straps 68, the risers bei ing connected to the harness as incommon practice. Y

In practice, the container is packed as in Fig. 1 with the fragile articles such' as canteens and similar equipment in the center and the heavier articles such as rifles, machineguns etc., around the outside. The static line from the parachute Y. canopy is fastened to the plane in the usual mang ner and the container is thrown overboard.

When the weight of the contents is taken by the harness, Vthe tendency, due to the diamond shape of the harness, is for the strips y46, 48, to be 3 drawn tightly around thecontainer, imbedding i themselves somewhat in the flexible material, so that the portions 50 of the strips which cross the bottom of the container are relieved of part of the load. When the container alights it necessarily strikes first on the lower end which con- 1 tainsk the shock absorber which greatly lessens the impact of the cargo.

When the snap fastener58 is opened, the strips 46, 60 and 62 on both sides may be laid back so that the flaps 20 and 22 may be laid back also, 1 giving almost instantaneous access to the weapons and equipment.. A single pull on the elastic Vstrap 31 will undoY all of the glove fasteners 39 1 and permit theV rifles 35 to be withdrawn, from i their pockets 34. I Y

Having described an embodiment of our invention, we claim:

l. An aerial delivery containerV of thev charactending into the bottOmcap, the top and bottom ends of theV piece being stitched to the top closing member. land 'the bottom cap respectively,

the stitching extending part way only around the circumference, leaving an unstitched portion adjacent each of the overlapping edges whereby l openable flaps are provided, and a harness conl sisting of ajbelt surrounding the cylinder intermediate its ends and' provided witha quick-actand two straps extending in'spaced-apart par- 1 allel paths across the bottom of the cap, upwardly 1 over the sidesgconverging and crossing then diverging untiloppositelegs of one strap reach and are secured to theparts ofthe quick-acting fasf tener and oppositev legs of the .other strap are secured in equally spaced-apart positions Von the j opposite side ofthe belt, the two straps then converging to opposite pointsiat the top oi the i container for connection toa parachute.A

2. An Vaerial delivery container of' the characl ing fastener at the overlapping edges of the flaps member and the bottom capy respectively, the

stitching extending part .Way only around the circumference, leaving an unstitched portion adjacent each'of the overlapping edges whereby openable flaps are provided, and a harness for supporting the container on Va parachute, said harness having a 'belt surrounding the cylinder intermediate its ends, the ends of the belt being joined by a quick-acting fastener whereby said openable'ilaps are held closed, vertical straps which extend across the bottom and up the sides to the top of the container for connection to a parachute, and a series of longitudinal padded pockets circumferentially spaced around the inner wall of the cylinder for carrying rifles and similar equipment. Y

3. An aerial delivery container of thecharacter described, which comprises a bottom cap inV the form of a drum with the upper end open, a top closing member, a side member comprising a rectangular piece of flexible fabric brought around in the form of a cylinder with the edges overlapping, the top end of the piece joining the top closing member and the lbottom en d ex,-

tending into the bottom cap, the top and' bottom ends of the piece being stitched to the top closing member and the bottom cap respectively, the stitching extending part way only around the circumference, leaving an unf stitched portion adjacent each of the overlapping edges whereby openable flaps arevprovided, and a harness for supporting the container on a parachute, said harness having a belt surrounding the cylinder intermediate its ends, the ends of the belt being joined by a quick-acting fastener whereby said openable flaps are held closed, vertical straps which extend across the bottom and up the sides to the Vtop of the container for connection to a parachute', a seriesof longitudi-` nal padded pockets circumferentially spaced around the inner wall of the cylinder for carrying rifles and similar equipment, 4and a quick opening means for holding the rifles in the pook-4 ets when the flaps are open. 1 y

' WILLIAM P.l YARBOROUGH.

HARRY WILSON.

Vle of this patent:

' UNITED STATES PATENTS..4 c

Date

Number Name 470,567 Hitch g g. Mar. 1,892 1,208,728 Bartlett Dec. v1,9, 1916 1,387,597 Fetters ...1.. '..,Augv. 16, 1921 Y 1,732,098 Lessenhop Oct.v 15, 1929 1,203,095 Bristow e Oct. 31,1916 1,736,383 Waggoner` Nov/19, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS 'Y Number CountryV n Date 843,985V ,Y French Y Y v Apr.,11,1939 341,680 British Ju1y'22, '71931 28,351 l British v ter described, which comprises a bottom cap in,

.Dec 4.512209 

